LIBRARY OF 



CONGRESS 




E 184 
.J5 W84 
Copy 1 



Judaism — Patriotism 
Fraternalism 




Compliments of 
SIMON WOLF 

April, 1922 






By Transfer 

AUG 14 1922 



FOREWORD. 

Among the men who have shed lustre upon the Jewish name 
in the United States of America none is deserving of greater recog- 
nition than Simon Wolf, of Washington, "the grand old man of 
American Jewry. ' ' For sixty years he has been a watchman on the 
tower of liberty. His voice has rung forth in clarion tones when- 
ever the civil or religious rights of Jews were in jeopardy. It is a 
privilege indeed to pay the meed of appreciation and admiration to 
so untiring a worker for the true and the good. In the opinion of 
many, this patriarch, so youthful in spirit, represents the finest 
type of the American Jew. Jew in religion and American in na- 
tionality he combines in rare fashion these two supreme loyalties. 
The three eloquent addresses published herewith stress the high 
aims of his fine life, namely, love for humanity, love for his coun- 
try and love for his religion. This is indeed a triple cord that can- 
not be broken. God be thanked for Simon Wolf ! May his tribe 
increase ! 

David Philipson. 

Cincinnati, 0., April, 1922. 



Judaism — Patriotism — Fraternalism 



Response of Hon. Simon Wolf, Chairman of the Board of Dele- 
gates on Civil Rights at the banquet given in Baltimore on Jannary 
16, 1917, at the Convention of the Union of American Hebrew Con- 
gregations, to the toast "America": 

On a summer day in 1845, in the little town where I was born 
in the Rhenish Provinces, the postman brought a letter which was 
written in the United States by an uncle of mine, whose son is the 
President of Dr. Berkowitz's Temple at Philadelphia. Among 
other things which the letter contained, there was a picture of 
George Washington, and a translation of the Declaration of Inde- 
pendence in German. The feeling that overcame me in looking at 
the one, and reading the other, is as vivid and distinct today as it 
was then, more than seventy years ago, and day and night from 
that time until I had the pleasure and good fortune of accompany- 
ing my sainted grandparents to this country, the thought was 
"what a wonderful man George Washington must have been, and 
what a fairyland it must be, where all men are born free and 
equal." And thus, when on the 19th day of July, 1848, I landed 
in New York, an immigrant boy, I was to all intents and purposes 
an American, and during these seventy years, I have never de- 
parted from that lofty conception of duty to American citizenship 
that had been formed in the land of my birth. 

America was the inspiration and dominant thought of my 
whole life. To aid and contribute to the advancement and better- 
ment of this blessed Republic was the only solvent in the chemical 
process of mental, moral and physical life. The younger genera- 
tion who have been blessed by being born to the condition of equal- 
ity can never realize what it means to be restricted and restrained 
from enjoying the liberty that is born of equal rights. We elders 
are constantly thankful for having been permitted to leave a land 
of persecution and discrimination to mingle with our fellowmen on 
a basis of justice and religious freedom, and to this glorious reality 
and altruistic uplift, no one has contributed more in this great Re- 
public, than the citizen of Jewish faith, whether individually or 



collectively, and to emphasize this achievement, the Union of 
American Hebrew Congregations, with all its consultant machinery, 
has been one of the important factors. And this brings to my 
recollection a memorable interview I had with the sainted Dr. 
Isaac M. Wise, when he recounted the history of how the Union 
of American Hebrew Congregations was formed. He said the first 
draft was "Union of Hebrew Congregations." When it was 
shown to him he promptly rejected it and said the word "Ameri- 
can" must be inserted. Thus at once, with his loyal devotion and 
far-sighted intelligence he stamped the seal of Jewish patriotism 
and American liberality on the great organization which is now 
holding its Convention. It is only in the United States of 
America, where man has the fullest opportunity to better his con- 
dition and to worship God according to the dictates of his own 
conscience, and to aspire to the highest ranks in official life — in 
short, to be equal to the best and inferior to none — and do you 
really realize what all this means? Are we sufficiently grateful to 
a kind Providence and to the founders of this great Republic for 
all that we enjoy, and for the glorious opportunity of being in a 
condition to aid our struggling and suffering co-religionists in other 
lands, and especially in this crucial hour of the world's history? 
The ambition of dynasties, the competitive strife for commercial 
supremacy, has hurled so-called Christian nations into a struggle 
for life and death, and in this great cataclysm, the Jew is not 
only hurled as a citizen of the respective countries at war, but in- 
dependent thereof, he suffers all the cruelties and wrongs that have 
been heaped upon him in the past centuries by certain countries 
in Europe. 

Then let our aim and supreme thought be to prove still fur- 
ther, if such a thing is possible, our love of and for the country of 
which we form so prominent and important a link, a country that 
is destined by virtue of its mission and its wonderful achievements 
to be the arbiter of the world of peace, for righteousness and jus- 
tice. Differences in creed may bring about an estrangement for the 
moment, but under the benign influence that constitutes the sev- 
erance of church and state, this country is destined to be at all 
times the refuge of the oppressed, the home of the free, and the 
promised land of the prophets, and let the slogan of every Ameri- 
can citizen, irrespective of nationality or creed, ever be "Long 
live the Republic," and convened as we are in the City of Balti- 



more, we can not help but think of that memorable historical oc- 
casion in American history when Fort McHenry was fired on and 
which inspired the great song writer of that time to compose the 
immortal anthem, which by its influence has unified every section 
of our great country, and, therefore, I ask you all to join in sing- 
ing "The Star Spangled Banner." 



Speech delivered at the Temple on day of Atonement, 

THE ORPHANED JEW AND 
THE JEWISH ORPHAN 

By Simon Wolf. 

At the close of the 19th century, it is proper that we should 
review the past, so that we can derive instruction therefrom, and 
gather new hope and courage for the future. One of the wisest of 
Israel's sages said, "There is nothing new under the sun," and 
however strange this observation may sound in the light of modern 
inventions and discoveries, yet I should not be surprised that all 
these things which we now prize so highly have heretofore existed. 
One thing is sure, that the spirit of persecution and the animus of 
prejudice and fanaticism has always shown its vindictiveness, and 
is as dominant today in many ways, as in the darkest days of 
feudalism, and it requires a master mind to prevent the masses 
from becoming mere tools in the hands of schemers and agitators. 
It may interest you to know that in the early days of the present 
century, the conditions in France were almost identical with those 
of to-day with this difference, that it was then a military govern- 
ment dominated and controlled by the man of all time, Napoleon. 
The influence of the Priest had been destroyed by the revolution, 
and under the new empire was beginning to show its hydra-headed 
fanaticism. It was at this time that Napoleon wrote the following 
letter to his Minister, Portalis, which it is worth while to read 
again, to get an idea not only of the wonderful genius of Napoleon, 
but also to know what influences were at work then against the 
Jew, and when we comprehend the full import of this letter, we 
need not after all be very much surprised at the condition of 
France to-day: 

"It is against the divine law to prevent the Jews from work- 
ing on Sundays, in order to gain his bread ; the Jew has his 
necessities on Sunday as well as on the week days. The Gov- 
ernment could pass such a law only if it were to give bread 
to those who have none; police and Government have, there- 
fore, no business to interfere. 

8 



"Even the holy fathers prescribed rest only for the people 
of wealth, or those who earned enough during the week to 
afford spending the Sunday in idleness. Therefore, in all 
Christian countries the custom to work on Sundays by special 
permission of the bishop or priest. Why should not the Jews 
be allowed to do so? Is it one of the bishop's rights, who hates 
the Jews, or the magistrate's rights, who has no love for the 
Jews, to grant or withhold such a permission ? 

"We had better be careful before we create a condition of 
affairs where we would be compelled to send policemen to the 
Jews, who must work for their living, in order to stop their 
Sunday labor. 

"In either case the authorities would be guilty of supersti- 
tion, either political or religious. God has made labor a duty, 
as He does not permit the enjoyment of a product of the 
earth, unless labor had been bestowed upon it. The laws of the 
clergy must be divided in such that affect religion in its es- 
sence, and in such that are passed for the object of extending 
their power. 

"Mr. Portalis had better, therefore, be careful, because 
these concessions once made, the Government undertaking to 
interfere in matters that are outside of its sphere, it will not 
be long before wo will be taken back to the unfortunate period 
of the issue of letters patent of absolution, or the miserable 
epoch when the priest imagined the right to order the burning 
alive of the Jew, or to maltreat the citizen, who refused to at- 
tend mass. The power of the clergy must be confined to the 
sermon ; it is time that the sorely persecuted Jews were left 
in peace. As long as I live, however, police and dungeon 
shall never be resorted to in France to tyrannize the citizens 
of another faith. There are many of erring sheep in the 
Christian fold ; let the priest lead these back to the practices 
of religion. An attempt to curtail still more the rights of Jews, 
which are curtailed enough, is priestl}^ malice, and there is an 
end of that in France. 

Napoleon. 
Ostend, December 25, 1807." 

This spirit making itself manifest in France in 1807 has been 
gathering force in all parts of the world, save and except in the 
United States, until to-day, notvdthstanding all that the Jew has 
done on the broad lines of citizenship in the various countries of 
his birth and residence, he has still to fight for his home, for his 
life, and for his happiness. He is still, to all intents and purposes, 
an orphaned Jew. His parents, in the shape of recognition, pro- 
tection and equality, have been denied him, and he is a castaway on 



the highway of life, who has to struggle not only for the chance of 
making life possible, but for life itself. I admit much has been 
done in Germany, in Italy, in England, and in France up to 1894, 
which showed a betterment and an improvement for the condition 
of the Jews, and yet even this betterment had to be wrested from 
the hands of our enemies who never accorded it as a right or 
privilege, but rather as a measure of policy. I confess that even I, 
optimistic as I have ever been, battling as I have for more than 
half a century on and in behalf of the rights of all men, and 
especially my co-religionists, am near the brink when I observe 
the conditions at the close of the century from which so much had 
been expected, and from which we were to receive new inspiration 
for the battle of the future. I am well aware that this subject of 
Dreyfus and France has been spoken of time and again, until it is 
almost nauseating, and yet nothing in history is so dreadful and 
so full of dire import as the action of France and the military 
cabal. It is not the victim of their hellish hate, but it is the Jews 
throughout the world that are affected, for if such things are pos- 
sible in France where the Jews have had since Napoleon's time 
more or less equal standing, then what can you expect from Russia, 
Roumania, Austria and Germany ? However oft, it has been stated 
that one Jew stands for all and all stand for one, it yet remains a 
fact that the sufferings of one as well as the misdeeds of one re- 
flects upon the whole Jewish community throughout the world. 
And this answers the question propounded by Mark Twain in his 
splendid article in the September number of Harpers,* that the 
Jews are united, but not as he would like them to be in the spirit 
of threat or opposition to inaugurate a universal boycott, but 
rather in the spirit of right, of mercy, of justice and of humanity, 
whose heart goes out beating responsive to every cause, and ready 
to live or die in defence of those eternal principles which underlie 
not only every faith, but particularly that of Judaism. Twain 
says in the article that it is not the hatred of the Jew 's religion, but 
antipathy from a business standpoint, although he says as follows : 



*This article in Harpers is due to the correspondence between us. Twain 
had at one time a different opinion. I sent him a copy of my book "The 
American Jew as Soldier, Patriot and Citizen." He promptly replied, ad- 
mitting his ignorance, gratefully thanked me, and promised to make amends 
in Harpers, which he did do effectively. These letters are published in my 
book "The Presidents I Have Known." 



10 



"These facts are all ou the credit side of the proposition 
that the Jew is a good and orderly citizen. Summed up, they 
certify that he is quiet, peaceable, industrious, unaddicted to 
high crimes and brutal dispositions; that his family life is 
commendable; that he is not a burden upon public charities; 
that he is not a beggar; that in benevolence he is above the 
reach of competition. These are the very quintessentials of 
good citizenship. If you can add that he is as honest as the 
average of his neighbors — But I think that question is affirma- 
tively answered by the fact that he is a successful business 
man. The basis of successful business is honesty ; a business 
cannot thrive where the parties to it cannot trust each other. 
In the matter of numbers the Jew counts for little in the 
overwhelming population of New York; but that his honesty 
counts for nnich is guaranteed by the fact that the immense 
wholesale business of Broadway, from the Battery to Union 
Square, is substantially in his hands. ' ' 

Now if the Jew's dealings are honorable in business relations, 
and there is no prejudice against his religion, then what is it that 
has produced this agony and misery of centuries, and which is as 
dominant to-day as in the days of yore? While Mr. Twain speaks 
of the Jew's probity, of his fairness in all things, of his charitable 
disposition, of his philanthropic efforts, of his humanity, his hu- 
mane spirit, and all the other attributes for which the word Jew 
and Judaism stand as truthful witnesses for all the ages, he closes 
his remarkable and well-meant article as follows: 

"To CONCLUDE. — If the statistics are right, the Jews consti- 
tute but one per cent, of the human race. It suggests a nebu- 
lous dim puff of star dust lost in the blaze of the Milky way. 
Properly the Jew ought hardly to be heard of ; but he is heard 
of, has always been heard of. He is as prominent on the planet 
as any other people, and his commercial importance is ex- 
travagantly out of proportion to the smallness of his bulk. 
His contributions to the world's list of great names in litera- 
ture, science, art, music, finance, medicine, and abstruse learn- 
ing are also away out of proportion to the weakness of his 
numbers. He has made a marvellous fight in this world, in all 
the ages ; and has done it with his hands tied behind him. He 
could be vain of himself, and be excused for it. The Egyptian, 
the Babylonian, and the Persian rose, filled the planet with 
sound and si)lendor, then faded to dream-stuff and passed 
away; the Greek and the Roman followed, and made a vast 
noise, and they are gone; other peoples have sprung up and 
held their torch high for a time, but it burned out, and they 

11 



sit in twilight now, or have vanished. The Jew saw them all, 
beat them all, and is now what he always was, exhibiting no 
decadence, no infirmities of age, no weakening of his parts, no 
slowing of his energies, no dulling of his alert and aggressive 
mind. All things are mortal but the Jew ; all other forces pass, 
but he remains. What is the secret of his immortality ? ' ' 

And here, his closing words, ' ' What makes the Jew immortal ' ' 
is a text in itself. What is it? Undoubtedly the very opposite to 
that which he has advised. It is because the Jews have been or- 
phaned and scattered in every part of the habitable globe that is 
one of the reasons of that immortality. Second, their non-proselyt- 
ing spirit in permitting each faith to live and prosper without mak- 
ing inroads, is another element of great strength in the Jew's im- 
mortality. His adhesion to hygienic and sanitary laws is one of 
the greatest elements of his immortality. The uprightness of his 
domestic relations, and the greatest virtues that have adorned the 
Jewish home is also a very great and important factor in his im- 
mortality, and finally, his morality is in every essential tenable, 
"as the survival of the fittest" which means the highest develop- 
ment of mentality. Then indeed it cannot be questioned why the 
Jew has survived all of his persecutors, and stands to-day as he 
did at creation's dawn, assertive, intelligent, courageous, chari- 
table, philanthropic, and immortal. Why cannot our neighbors of 
Christian faith throw away their narrow and sectarian bias, ever 
remembering Shakespeare's immortal words, "Has not a Jew 
eyes, &c." In what way do we differ from all the essentials that 
you claim credit for? Do we not possess each and every one of 
those qualities that have adorned mankind, and that make for good 
citizenship, and in addition thereto have many that you have un- 
fortunately ignored or do not practice? If there are Jews, and I 
confess there are, who do not come up to the golden rule, are there 
not in proportion a much larger number among your own, the 
Christians have not a mortgage on all the rascals, and since there 
are, why not brand each and every one from the standpoint of man- 
kind, and not from the standpoint of religion or race or country. 
Do not forget that as Abraham Lincoln said, "For every drop of 
blood by the lash, there will be an equal number drawn by the 
sword." Thus if Christian governments and Christian churches 
permit the persecution of the Jew as they did the enslavement 
of the negro, what other condition can you expect than that 

12 



among a certain number of the unfortunate victims of your hate 
and antagonism, there will be found a lower strata of humanity. 
When you deaden all the moral instincts of human nature, when 
you deprive the brain of thought, the soul of aspiration, the heart 
of love, and drag him down to the level of the beast, you cannot 
expect anj^thing else but the tiger's spring, and it is not the tiger 
that should be blamed, but the cruel master. To me it has been a 
wonder that notwithstanding all the cruelties and barbarities prac- 
ticed upon the Jews, that there is yet so much of humanity, moral- 
ity, and true religious fervor left in their composition, and it ar- 
gues well for the ground work of their being, and the exceeding 
purity of their laws and religion. 

So much for the Jew at large. The Jewish orphan on this day 
of solemn fast and prayer claims our undivided interest and sym- 
pathy. In your own way you have in the past ten years contributed 
from time to time to the maintenance and support of Jewish or- 
phans in Atlanta, Georgia, Washington being a part of the district. 
Only those who have been favored with an inspection of the home 
and its happy inmates, can have a conception of what vast good 
has been accomplished, and how much of anti-semitism has been 
destroyed by the results achieved in this and kindred institutions. 
I therefore, feel sure that you will not take it amiss if I invoke 
your continued aid and assistance on these lines of humanity and 
philanthropy. Mark Twain has said most beautifully, but no less 
truthfully, that we stand at the head of humanity in the matter of 
charity. Let us continue to lead and show to the world that not- 
withstanding all the prejudice and fanaticism, we are still work- 
ing to the end that the rising generation may be morally, intellec- 
tually and physically strong, that we recognize the priceless boon 
of American citizenship, and thus recognizing it, our aim and ob- 
ject is not to become a burden upon the state, or upon the nation, 
but to contribute wherever we can to rescue from the purlieus and 
slums of the cities and towns the unfortunate orphan, and educate 
him to be in the highest sense, a true American citizen. Therefore, 
do not, if there are any such among you, shrug your shoulders with 
indifference, and clutch your dollars caring not what becomes of 
the unfortunate. You know not how the wheel of fortune may turn 
with you. To-day you may have plenty, to-morrow's storm may 
leave you penniless, and the children of your love and affection may 
claim the sympathy and love of others. Be cheerful givers at any 

13 



and all times, not only for the Jewish orphans, but for the orphans 
of all sects, and in this connection do not neglect to support and 
contribute to the United Hebrew Charities of this city, which has 
done such splendid and notable work. Support, aid and strengthen 
the hands of its noble chairman, and energetic board of officers. 
You cannot do work that is more deserving or that helps humanity 
to a greater extent, I know you gave last year, I know you gave 
the year before, but that is not this year, nor next. You ate your 
dinner yesterday, and you expect to eat it to-morrow, and the un- 
fortunate are exactly in the same condition. Their wants may have 
been supplied once, but that does not argue that they are not 
equally hungry to-day, and the standpoint assumed by our chari- 
ties is a most excellent one. It does not foster pauperism or beg- 
gary, on the contrary, it tries to stimulate love of and for work, and 
supports those who are willing to be self-sustaining. Since the 
Jew has been called immortal for many reasons, let us live up to 
this high standard not only as citizens of our common country, not 
only as cosmopolitans of the whole civilized earth, but also as pro- 
gressive, cultured, moral and courageous Jews, whose highest am- 
bition it is to respect themselves, and to contribute to the better- 
ment of mankind. 



14 



Address delivered in New York at the ' ' Maundy Thursday ' ' Ban- 
quet of the Scottish Eite, April 13, 1911 : 

*'ARE WE NOT ALL BRETHREN" 

Most Wise Master and Brethren : 

When on the 24th and 25th day of May, 1865, there marched 
up Pennsylvania Avenue to be reviewed by the President of the 
United States, the Grand Army of the Republic, I witnessed a 
pageant, unparalleled in the annals of time. They were not Chris- 
tians or Jews that marched in serried ranks to lay down the arms 
which they had so gloriously borne in bloody fields of battle. They 
were American citizens, who by their indomitable valor and cour- 
age, had shown what American institutions had produced. 

So, in that spirit, I am here to-night, to greet you one and all, 
and to extend to you that cordial hand of fellowship for which our 
fraternity is celebrated throughout the world. I greet you, not as 
Christians, not as Jews, but as brethren; brethren, who cement, 
unify, harmonize and reconcile all the differences incident to our 
nature, and thus vindicate all that is divine, all that is great and 
glorious, not only here on earth, but in all the longings for eternity. 
No pages in history are darker in their tragedy, no crimes in their 
rapacities, than those that have been created by differences in re- 
ligious belief. How much more then should we rejoice that this 
fraternity, one of the greatest religious organizations on the face 
of the earth, does not divide ; it unifies. It has not left countless 
millions dead on the fields of battle. It has not laid the beautiful 
savannahs of the South and the granaries of the North waste. No, 
it has beautified, it has glorified all that is best in man. Thus this 
great organization is Avorthy of the homage of the best of men, for 
no other organization, ancient or modern, pays such high and 
glorious tribute to the fundamental principles of the domestic vir- 
tues incident to our lives and womanhood, as the Masonic fraternity. 

In addition, it is thoroughly democratic. At no time in my 
career was I more impressed with this than when, as our country's 
representative, I was sent as Minister to Egypt. On my way, in 
London, I was taken to the Blue Lodge Room, where in the East 
sat His Royal Highness, the Prince of Wales, afterwards King 

15 



Edward the VII; and thus the emigrant Jew boy of Bavaria, the 
representative of this great republic, sat side by side with the 
Crown Prince of England, showing the democracy of our Order. 
Again, when I landed in Cairo, the then Rebel Chief, Arabi Pasha, 
welcomed me with all the honors to the East in the Blue Lodge 
Room, showing the universality of our Order ; and at the same time 
I felt rejoiced that I could be back in the land of my ancestors, not 
as a slave, but as a free man. It is true that the good missionaries 
of different Christian faiths in Egypt had feared the advent of the 
American citizen of Jewish faith, and that their institutions would 
be jeopardized. They forgot that I did not go to Egypt as a Jew, 
but as an American citizen, the proudest title any man can wear 
on this earth. I had the great satisfaction, a year after, to read a 
letter the good missionaries wrote to their friends at home, when in 
convention assembled in Philadelphia — good Presbyterians, Brother 
Senator Depew — who wrote "Our Consul General of Jewish faith 
has done more for our missions in one year, than all the Christian 
Consuls General in all their lives." It was very gratifying. It was 
no more than my Masonic duty that I performed, to be truthful, to 
be honorable, to be in every sense a man. Are we not taught in all 
the lodges, whether in the lower or in the higher degrees, that we 
must recognize all men as our equals, not because they are Christians 
or Jews, but because they are men of character, men of worth? I 
ask here to-night that in your admission to any of the bodies of the 
craft, look to the man, whether he be Jew or Christian, whether he 
be seilator or laborer, as long as he is a man of merit, of standing, 
of sobriety, and a man who vindicates in his personality all those 
attributes with which God has endowed us. The ancient character 
of our craft I saw exemplified at Heliopolis near Cairo, where the 
Sun Temple stood, where Herodotus and Plato were taught, and 
there yet stands the obelisk full of Masonic Hieroglyphics, proving 
to each and every one the ancient character of our great Order. The 
humanizing character of our Order has also been illustrated to me 
when in 1862 the second battle of Bull Run had been fought, and 
General Pope had telegraphed to Washington for aid and assistance 
to take care of the prisoners and wounded. In common with many 
other civilians, I went to the battlefield, carrying provisions, and 
instead of the General having prisoners, we ourselves were made 
prisoners, as the Confederate Army had possession of the entire 
field. I was brought before the General Commanding, and when 

16 



lie became aware through the mystic sign that I was a brother of 
the craft, instead of sending me to Libby Prison, I was permitted 
to return to Washington. Thus this great organization softens even 
the cruelties of war, and like the words of the Hebrew, ' ' Hear, Oh 
Israel, the Lord our God is one," so the hailing sign of the craft is 
recognized the world over and becomes a source of help and cheer. 
It is not the Mystic Sign and Word within the lodge room that 
solely counts. It is the work outside of the lodge room that tells. 
The upholding of all that is best in citizenship, the protection of 
womanhood, the integrity of character which stands sponsor for 
Masonry — those are things outside of the lodge room that make pro- 
paganda, and that appeal to the mind of the most ignorant, as well 
as to that of the most cultivated. Masonry, in my judgment, is not 
only a great religious organization teaching the morals and ethics 
of the Golden Rule, "Love thy neighbor as thyself"; but it is the 
conservator of true republican ideas, the love of freedom, the love 
of justice, of righteousness, and that is one of the reasons, my 
brethren, that the oppressors of the world are afraid of the Masonic 
Fraternity. In no part of the world does our great brotherhood so 
flourish as in this great God-given republic of ours; and as long 
as we are true to all the tenets of the institutions under which we 
are so supremely happy, so long will we be discharging our re- 
sponsibilities to the Masonic Order. 

Brethren, do not for a moment believe that the Christian alone 
has made this Republic. Oh no, thank God, I can say here to-night 
that when in 1894 I published a book entitled ' ' The American Jew 
as Soldier, Patriot and Citizen," I furnished from the archives of 
our Government the facts that there had been more Jews enlisted 
on the Union side, and on the Southern side, than of any other de- 
nomination in the United States, when you compare their number. 
Thus we ask no favors, I expect none. I expect, however, every 
Christian to be treated by every Jew with that degree of cordiality, 
of friendship and of fraternal good will which are the heirlooms of 
every human being; and I expect the same on the other hand for 
the Jew, for are we not all brethren ? Has not the same God created 
us? Endowed us with all the faculties necessary to strengthen the 
ties of our common bonds, and the ties of human endeavor and hu- 
man achievements? 

This is a solemn hour. While the Scottish Rite of the 18° enjoy 
this feast, which is celebrated to-night by the Jews throughout the 

17 



world, I feel perfectly at home with the unleavened bread, in the 
wine cup, in all that pertains to the Mystic Banquet of the Great 
Rite. At every Passover festival in the home of the humblest Jew, 
you may find the door wide open, the cup of wine standing ready 
for the stranger, thus establishing that cordon of hospitality which 
has circled the world in its magic influence and brought man closer 
and closer together. 

Unfortunate it is that this very peace, so endearing and em- 
blematic and sjmibolical of the freedom which the Jew transmitted 
from generation to generation after his Egyptian bondage, has 
been made a tragedy in many lands of the earth. Even when I 
was in Egypt, I was appealed to and had to go to the Greek Pa- 
triarch to prevent a riot, for it had been charged by ignorance and 
prejudice, which are s^^nonymous, that the Jews had killed a Chris- 
tian child for the blood of the Passover. Think of it, that in the 
name of the Prince of Peace, the offspring from the loins of the 
Jews, should be made the text for massacre, the text for expulsion 
and persecutions, as it is to-day in darkest Russia. Then I ask you, 
have we not a great task yet to fulfill? Have we not yet a great 
mission in life, for this great band, this great organization, uni- 
versal in all its character, who work and watch to the end that 
prejudice shall vanish from the earth, that Right and Truth shall 
illumine the darkest corners thereof, that the prisoner in his dun- 
geon cell, and on the icy steppes of Siberia, shall win new inspira- 
tion and new courage for the battles of life? 

To-morrow night, my friends, is the anniversary of the as- 
sassination of the greatest American that ever lived. He, too, was 
a brother. A brother in truth whom I knew well, whom I loved, 
and whom I honored, and who was the forerunner of all that is yet 
to come, a man so faithful to his trust, so modest, yet so true, vin- 
dicating in every act of his the teachings of the lodge room ; and 
let us hope and trust that future generations will be animated by 
that fearless courage, love of truth and right that animated him 
who has joined the immortals, and than whom no greater soul ever 
vindicated the true tenets of Masonry, Abraham Lincoln. 

Brethren, I thank you for this golden opportunity to be with 
you, especially you. Brother Wise Master, who has asked me to be 
here to-night. I have heard from time to time that brethren of my 
faith were not welcome in the Scottish Rite of the Northern Juris- 
diction. I am happy to say that among those names read off to- 

18 



night, who have joined the immortal throng, there were several of 
my kindred whom I loved and esteemed. I trust that your ranks 
will be increased by good men and true, irrespective of nationality, 
irrespective of faith ; and that we will all meet on common ground, 
on that bridge of life which spans all humanity, that knows no 
creed, that knows no country save that country which confers the 
greatest blessing upon the largest number. 

Yes, we have a great fraternity. We have a glorious, glorious 
body of men, from the earliest days of George Washington up to 
the present, the executives of the nation, senators and members, as 
we have to-night in our midst one of the most shining exemplars 
of civic virtue, of statesmanship and of true Masonry, and so the 
laborer, the employed and the employer, the men of daring and the 
men of genius, all come together on common ground, each trying 
his best to make the world purer and better, and thus prove that 
we are indeed a band of brethren. Americans not only in spirit, 
but in deed. There is no fraternity in the world like ours, for we 
teach equality between man, without which the world would be a 
barren ideality, for we can say with our brother Kobert Burns, 
"The rank is but the guinea's stamp, a man's a man for a' that." 



Senator Depew, who was one of the speakers, was enthusiastic in prais 
ing my speech. 



19 



iir 



